Just rebuild he engine in my L295DT, pretty worn out and was overheating. Engine has 5-6 hours on it, most of which were just light mowing, as soon as I start to get into heavier stuff (not really bogging down) the temp gauge climbs up to ~215 degrees. New rad, water pump, basically new engine. Any suggestions welcome.
Overheating
- Thread starter Blitzz
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85Hokie
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215 F is not really "overheating" - if that is an accurate gauge reading then a worked hard diesel WILL be at 215 F !
Will it hold that temp? Once you continue to run - does it rise higher?
You are in a rather warm climate too.
Have you taken ANY measurements with an infrared thermometer by chance?
How quickly does IT get to that temp? IF it does that in a couple of minutes then something is wrong - if it takes maybe 10 minutes once worked, that is fine.
Will it hold that temp? Once you continue to run - does it rise higher?
You are in a rather warm climate too.
Have you taken ANY measurements with an infrared thermometer by chance?
How quickly does IT get to that temp? IF it does that in a couple of minutes then something is wrong - if it takes maybe 10 minutes once worked, that is fine.
Maximum temperature is probably around 230 F for that tractor. 215 is really not into the worry range. It may run a bit cooler once broken in. Your radiator may have dirt and grass in the fins. Blow air or run water from the garden hose from the engine side toward the front of the radiator to clean the fins. This will probably help as well.
There is currently no thermostat in it but a new one is on the way as it was removed by the p/o. It has a new radiator and the fins are clean, can see right through all of them. The temp gauge has 215 in the red zone so that is why I thought it was overheating. A welch plug sprung a leak and upon further inspection the water jackets and chock full of rust and dirt.
85Hokie
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IF you have rust and gunk in the block/head ..... then do this.
Drain the coolant........
add a 1/2 gallon of white vinegar rest water ....... run it like normal - allow to get good and hot again - 30 minutes at least.
empty coolant - USE the other 1/2 gallon of vinegar/ water and run again.......
empty THAT .........run regular water (distilled if you have) and run it a 3rd time while getting hot.
Describe what the color of coolants are when drained - the 3rd time should be fairly clean.
Add antifreeze/ distilled water and then see what the temps do - report back your findings.
Drain the coolant........
add a 1/2 gallon of white vinegar rest water ....... run it like normal - allow to get good and hot again - 30 minutes at least.
empty coolant - USE the other 1/2 gallon of vinegar/ water and run again.......
empty THAT .........run regular water (distilled if you have) and run it a 3rd time while getting hot.
Describe what the color of coolants are when drained - the 3rd time should be fairly clean.
Add antifreeze/ distilled water and then see what the temps do - report back your findings.
85Hokie
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One of these things is not like the other thing.
If the engine was rebuilt, and is "basically a new engine", how is it possible that the water jackets are chock full of rust and dirt?
Did you not remove all the plugs and have the block hot tanked when you rebuilt it???
Yes I agree it sounds funny but the engine is rebuild, we cleaned out the water jackets the best we could with a power washer without popping out the plugs. At the time we were unable to source the plugs in a timely manner.
One of these things is not like the other thing.
If the engine was rebuilt, and is "basically a new engine", how is it possible that the water jackets are chock full of rust and dirt?
Did you not remove all the plugs and have the block hot tanked when you rebuilt it???
UPDATE: installed the new thermostat and changed the welch plugs, took quite a lot longer to get to 230 but it still did. I will start the coolant flush with vinegar tomorrow. Could this have anything to do with the aftermarket rad?
Comparing it to the original radiators online it seems to have a lower amount of cores per inch.
Comparing it to the original radiators online it seems to have a lower amount of cores per inch.
85Hokie
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can you take readings with an infrared thermometer? top neck on radiator and then bottom neck of radiator. This will tell a lot.
I know there are some real cheap aftermarket radiators for cars that won't cool as well. Any radiator should keep the engine cool if you aren't working the engine hard unless there is some blockage inside.
Sure thing, forgot I had one of those, what should the the approx temp difference be?
85Hokie
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Yes, that's possible. It could be a cheap Chinese knock-off that is simply not going to work as well as the OEM.
But more likely, you simply blew it badly when you didn't rebuild it properly. Pulling ALL the plugs (coolant AND any oil passage plugs) is simply not optional when rebuilding an engine. That's just asking for the opportunity to pull it out again and do it right the second time.
Not sure what you mean by "cores per inch". A radiator's cores are counted in total, not by the inch. A typical radiator has 2 or 3 cores. Some have 1, some have 4, and I have heard of some having more.
However, contrary to popular myth and radiator company false advertising, more cores does NOT automatically mean more cooling. Radiator design is much more complicated than that. A well designed and well built single core radiator might cool much better than an El Cheapo 4 core radiator.
Am I completely screwed? I've taken out all of he plugs and cleaned out the inside to the best of my ability with it still in. I've rebuild diesels before, namely Mitsubishis and never had a problem.
After a bit more research the radiator I have was made in turkey and it really was cheap, would it be wise to get it re cored or just buy a replacement? I haven't checked the temp differential from the two necks yet.
85Hokie
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Before you start removing items and assuming things to be "bad" -------- fill it up with good old water ........
run the hell out of it - get it hot .......... and please check those numbers............ if you can get the fluid cooled at the bottom of the radiator at or below 120 F then I would let her run as is.
Also - running an engine without a thermostat is a big no-no ....... why you ask, the water NEEDS to be slowed down a bit as it runs by the heated surfaces.... plus the engine needs to get to temp as quickly as possible to be "efficient" - a cold running engine is another no-no
And just because it was made in Turkey ..... does not make it "bad" - hell who knows, might be well made, then again maybe not - aint but one way to find out!
EDIT - what is the PSI on the cap btw?
Have you confirmed the temperature gauge is accurate? Water boils at approx 210F so placing the sending unit in boiling water should be an easy confirmation. (It would be necessary to provide proper electrical “ground” to the engine block.)
Two things come to mind:
1- Is your radiator CAP also new? and it good condition? and the proper pressure? (By pressurizing the system the boiling point is decreased.)
2-While I’ve never witnessed this and find it curuious… Responsible sources claim that operating without a thermostat can contribute to overheating because the lack of thermostat allows the coolant to “rush” through the radiatior resulting in insufficient “dwell” or “time” in the radiator to remove heat. A thermostat not only brings the temp up quickly to proper operating temperature…it also regulates coolant flow through the radiator.
Two things come to mind:
1- Is your radiator CAP also new? and it good condition? and the proper pressure? (By pressurizing the system the boiling point is decreased.)
2-While I’ve never witnessed this and find it curuious… Responsible sources claim that operating without a thermostat can contribute to overheating because the lack of thermostat allows the coolant to “rush” through the radiatior resulting in insufficient “dwell” or “time” in the radiator to remove heat. A thermostat not only brings the temp up quickly to proper operating temperature…it also regulates coolant flow through the radiator.